The Predictive Index brings in $50M to help businesses create winning teams

Funding will get you a long way, but people, at the end of the day, are the key to a successful business.

The Predictive Index, which develops behavioral and cognitive employee assessments, has raised a $50 million round of growth-stage capital from venture capital firm General Catalyst to help companies choose the right talent.

Holly Maloney, a managing director at General Catalyst, led the deal and will take a board seat alongside Kirk Arnold, an executive-in-residence. The firm says the round is the largest first check they’ve ever written a company. Predictive Index declined to disclose the valuation.

The workplace analytics service was founded in 1955, making it just a bit older than your typical growth-stage business. Current chief executive officer Mike Zani (pictured, right) acquired the company in 2014 with Predictive Index president and chairman Daniel Muzquiz (pictured, left). Prior to the acquisition, the pair were clients of the business.

With the infusion of VC funding, Zani said he’ll double employee headcount, create a playbook on how to “successfully design, hire and inspire winning teams” and create a talent optimization industry conference, amongst other big plans.

“Most companies are losing the talent war, and not because of the lack of fight, but rather because strategic talent strategies are non-existent or broken,” Zani told TechCrunch. “The irony is that talent is one of the only lasting differentiators in business today. Most tools in the marketplace help with process or tactical aspects of people and ignore the strategic. At [Predictive Index] we offer the strategic talent discipline, or talent optimization, to the hands of those who want to use talent as a business performance lever.”

“This year, low unemployment and high turnover will further magnify the importance of talent,” Arnold said in a statement. “Having a talent strategy which aligns and supports business strategy is a requirement for any business to be successful.”